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I Don’t Have to Re-invent The Wheel

I know that I don’t have to re-invent the wheel, yet I always feel like I do. Perhaps it’s another product of my pesky habit of overthinking everything. (Which I am diligently working to get past.) All I know is I have to learn how to do more with what has already been done.

What I mean by all of this is that when I am reaching for a goal, I tend to take the most complicated route to get there. It’s usually because I don’t understand or don’t trust the methods already out there. Sometimes I have a good reason for feeling this way but I’d honestly say that most of the time… I don’t.

One example would be how I want to improve my Japanese and pass the language proficiency exam- without living in Japan or taking a class. A simple Google or YouTube search will yield me a mountain of methods that other people used. Most of them live or have lived in Japan and/or are taking/have taken courses. Those who weren’t living in Japan when they studied mostly used an assortment of workbooks, which tend to be costly and occasionally hard to understand. The amount of time that these people studied for also ranges from 30 minutes to 8 hours per day.

Many of these circumstances are just unrealistic for me due to monetary reasons or simply a lack of time. This leads me to wanting to create my own tailored method of studying, which leads to me wanting to start from scratch and ultimately begins the downwards spiral of overthinking. My other problem is that I am usually far too focused on the end goal, rather than what the journey will be like and if it’s sustainable.

Writing my issue out here really helps me to face it. At the same time, I can look at what I’ve written so far and see how simple a fix could possibly be. Other things I struggle with because I overthink solutions are losing weight, getting in shape, time management, cooking, and obtaining healthier hair. Hopefully I can improve these too and start working smarter instead of harder.

I’m really working hard to be a better person and enjoy my life more. I think I’m getting it right too, just very slowly.